What Kind of Teacher are You???

How teachers teach can be as important as what they teach...

How a teacher teaches is greatly influenced by the philosophy embraced

Which Classroom would you feel more comfortable in?

     OR

Do you lean toward the traditional or the progressive?

I was recently encouraged to examine my educational philosophy and was not surprised by the results.

Although I think how I teach and the environment that I create in my future classroom will be very dependent upon the needs and experiences of the students in that class; I identified as a Cognitivism/Constructivism teacher.  

Cognitivism/Constructivism philosophy supports student's active construction of meaning through experience reflection, with the teacher facilitating environmental conditions which mediate those experiences to support student learning. 

My lowest score was essentialism which supports student learning in a core of basic knowledge.  Teaching is systematic, disciplined, and subject centered.  This is a practical approach with an emphasis on intellectual and moral standards.

Other categories held very similar scores for me and were only slightly lower than my highest scoring category, these were:

• Humanism: The perspective is on the human potential of growth, there is a focus on the affective and cognitive dimensions of learning.  It is believed that behavior is the consequence of human choice and learning will flourish in an environment which supports it.
• Progressivism: The focus is on the child not the subject matter.  Student interest is important and learning should be active and reflective.  It is believed that ideas are important for the future.
• Reconstructivism/Critical Theory: The belief is centered on the idea that schools are the leaders in developing skills for students that will transform future society.  The school is responsible for the knowledge and skills which will lead to societal reform. 

The results of this inventory leads me to believe that I do believe in helping students construct meaning, in a supportive and active environment that is focused on the student in order to create the global citizens of tomorrow.

Core skills and knowledge are very important, but those skills can be transmitted in ways that allows the learner to wonder, examine, discover, interpret; thus creating deep understanding of concepts which become a part of the student's social, cognitive and emotional development.

What age is your "dream class"

Think for a minute, when you imagine your classroom--what age are your students?

What are your preferences and how does your philosophy impact your view?

Teaching students of any age is exciting; but I have found my preference for teaching is working with 7-8 year olds where there is so much growth and development.  Cognitive skills become more advanced and students are capable of a higher level of thinking.  Social development is expanding rapidly and it is vital that students are encouraged to explore and are supported in inquiry learning.   

Diane Laufenberg on TED provides a clear vision of using authentic experiences so that students can develop meaning for themselves--and this can be done for learners of all ages....take a look:

I think she demonstrates clearly that students should be empowered, failure embraced and we need to do more than give them information; we need to have them seek out what they will DO with that information!

Whatever your classroom looks like, whatever the age of your students, whatever your philosophy..we should remember....

"Learning is something students do, not something done to students"
       -Alfie Kohn